Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) Practice Exam

Which of the following best describes quality assurance?

1. It measures the completion of project deliverables.

2. It focuses on preventing problems from occurring.

3. It involves reactionary measures to project issues.

4. It is primarily concerned with vendor relationships.

The correct answer is: It focuses on preventing problems from occurring.

Quality assurance is best described as a process that focuses on preventing problems from occurring before they impact the final deliverables. This proactive approach emphasizes the importance of establishing systematic activities and procedures that ensure quality standards are met throughout the project lifecycle. By identifying potential areas of risk and implementing strategies to mitigate them, organizations can ensure that they consistently deliver high-quality outcomes without the need for extensive corrections or interventions after problems arise. The other options, while related to project management, do not encapsulate the essence of quality assurance as effectively. For instance, measuring the completion of project deliverables is more aligned with project management performance metrics rather than quality assurance, which is about ensuring quality processes. Reactionary measures to project issues relate more to quality control, which involves identifying defects after they have occurred rather than preventing them. Lastly, while vendor relationships can play a role in quality assurance—especially concerning the quality of materials or services received—they do not define it. Quality assurance is fundamentally about the processes themselves, rather than the individuals or organizations providing inputs into those processes.